1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to holders for ID cards and other objects.
2. General Background
The applicants for the present application have previously developed an automated attendance tracking system. That system is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 10/919,723, filed Aug. 16, 2004, and the disclosure of that application is incorporated herein by reference.
The applicant's automated attendance monitoring system uses tags (worn or carried by students or other attendees) and readers to monitor the whereabouts of individuals. Thus, for instance, as students enter a classroom, the antenna of a reader placed near the door would interact with Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) tags that are worn or carried by the students. The system would then track which students have entered the classroom, and by comparing the list of entering students with the class list, the system could generate a provisional list of absent students. The teacher or other attendance monitor could then visually confirm attendance, and could use a handheld computer system to update and finalize the provisional attendance record.
In order for such an automated attendance tracking system to reliably monitor attendance, there must be good communication between the tag and the antenna of the reader. A number of factors can affect the ability of the tag to communicate with the antenna of the reader.
First, the position of the tag relative to the antenna of the reader can affect “readability.” Given current RFID technology, the tag should generally be parallel to the reader's antenna. For tracking the movement of inanimate objects, like inventory or crates, it is not difficult to maintain the tag in the proper orientation, but for humans—especially constantly-moving students—it may be difficult to maintain proper orientation.
Second, the signal between the antenna of the reader and the tag is subject to interference, especially from the moisture and organic compounds that are associated with the human body, as well as clothes, backpacks, etc. Because of these hurdles, RFID tags have not been widely used for tracking humans, but instead have been primarily used for tracking objects such as inventory.
However, as explained below, the applicants have now overcome the obstacles that have hindered the use of RFID tags on humans.